Lawrence Newton throws a punch at Randy Ruxin Zheng during a bout in the USA Boxing Junior Olympic National Championships on June 19, 2012, at the Arthur Outlaw Convention Center in Mobile, Ala. (Press-Register file)

MOBILE, Alabama - Gulf Coast tourists could consist of more than sunscreen-slathered families. They also could wear sports uniforms. Or cheer on those wearing sports uniforms.

It's that athletic segment of the travel industry being targeted by one subset of a group working on strategies to boost Mobile's tourism revenue. Eighteen people met on Thursday at the Outlaw Convention Center to consider proposals to increase sports tourism, with former Mobile mayor Mike Dow serving as the facilitator.

Dow said the aim is to bring 3 million to 5 million more out-of-state visitors a year to Mobile, with sports-and-recreation tourism forming a slice of that increase. The planners hope to increase Mobile's tourism to the level associated with other southern destination cities, such as Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.

"You say it's impossible," Dow told the group. "But they are doing it right next door in Baldwin County, and those people aren't filling up our hotels."

Mobile wants to take a swing at attracting more regional and national sports events, particularly youth tournaments, where the visitors include not only the participants but their families, too.

The Travel and Tourism Strategic Action Plan breaks down tourism into sections, such as sports and recreation, arts and cultural, hospitality and transportation, environment, and attractions, entertainment and events, then seeks to unify those working in each section around a vision for success.

The plan has 10 goals, and each goal has five strategies on how that goal can reach reality. Goal 6 concerns sports and recreation. The goal is to "build a nationally competitive sports and recreation infrastructure and marketing plan."

"We wouldn't have to do anything but what's on this page to be the greatest city in America," Dow said of Goal 6.

The five strategies for Goal 6 include:

-- Having the Mobile Sports Authority provide the top 10 new and renovation sports infrastructure projects to fund.

-- Addressing immediate infrastructure needs so Mobile can compete for events, maintain its sales-tax base and help with sales-tax growth.

-- Developing a communitywide network and integrated sales and marketing plan for sports tournaments and events.

-- Providing a regional sports and recreation subcommittee to work with the World Leisure Organization Legacy Project.

Each strategy has its own bullet items, ranging from mundane - such as relocating the Mobile Sports Authority office to the Mobile Convention Center - to major - such as upgrading the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center with 16 clay courts and a nine-court indoor competition facility.

The group has met before, and Dow said a clear message emerged from that meeting.

"When you look at what came back from the first session," Dow said, "it really kind of boiled down to infrastructure that is the major barrier to doing what cities that are capitalizing on sports and rec are doing.

"(Sports-event organizers) are looking at your facilities. If you have new or renovated facilities, then they'll put you on the list for a site visit. Then you have a chance to show them all that you have to offer. If you don't have those things, you won't be competitive."

Danny Corte, the executive director of the Mobile Sports Authority, tackled one of the strategies by passing out a list of his group's top-10 priorities. They include:

-- Build lighted, FieldTurf soccer fields, preferably eight, including one stadium field, at no more than two locations in the Mobile area.

-- Upgrade the Mobile Tennis Center.

-- Upgrade and/or build softball, baseball, soccer and volleyball venues - from fields to concessions stands - to allow the area to pursue more youth tournaments.

-- Establish or identify a larger revenue stream from the city and/or county to pay for maintenance of the area's outdoor sports venues.

-- Build an Olympic-size natatorium.

-- Have the city and/or county take over management of the Outlaw Convention Center and Mobile Civic Center or reach an agreement with SMG to waive or deeply discount rent and support costs for certain sports events.

-- Encourage or help the University of South Alabama to build a 100-yard indoor football practice facility.

-- Build a 2,500- to 5,000-seat arena with ice.

-- Bring the National Bowling Congress Open Championship to Mobile.

-- Invest in the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame to make it a sports-tourism destination.

The cost breakdown on the wish-list items ranges from $250,000 to $20 million.

The stumbling block to upgrading Mobile's sports facilities, of course, is money, Dow said, and it will take private investment for the plan to come to fruition. Dow said the best way to get public and/or private backing for sports facilities is to be able to pinpoint what their economic impact would be.

"We can add $20 million to $30 million to our sales-tax base if we can get to the level that just our research tells us that we can get to," Dow said. Dow said he had looked at 40 studies, and "if we did nothing in 2013 but stayed focused on rugby and soccer, we'd have a revenue-generator right there."

In the Mobile Sports Authority's fiscal-year report, which was released on Tuesday, the economic impact on the area of the 39 events that received MSA support between Oct. 1, 2011, and Sept. 30, 2012, was pegged at $68,277,342.

Dow said three things were converging that would increase the opportunity for success - the arrival of Airbus and its associated businesses, the meeting of the World Leisure Organization Congress in Mobile in 2014, and the Coastal Alabama Partnership.

Dow said the Airbus effect will bring several billion dollars and 10,000 jobs to the area; the first World Leisure Organization Congress meeting in the United States will provide the chance to build a legacy lifting the quality of life and livability in Mobile; and the Coastal Alabama Partnership will provide regional leverage for the west side of the bay in working with Baldwin County.

Baldwin County could be a strong ally in growing sports and recreational tourism in Mobile, Dow said. Or it could just eat most of the pie.

"If we don't get strong on our side the bay, we're just going to end up being a part of the beach," Dow said. "We want to be able to deal with Baldwin County from a position of strength, from a position of equality to make this a regional partnership.

"Baldwin County is going to do these things, and we are or we are not going to do it. If we're an equal partner to Baldwin, then we're going to grow, because those guys are fired up. They're getting their soccer fields; they're not talking about it."

Dow said the travel and tourism action plan follows the model used in the late 1980s for manufacturing. The aim is to reach a consensus, then divide into implementation teams on each strategy. Dow called for those at Thursday's meeting to step forward as leaders. Among those attending were Mobile BayBears President and COO Bill Shanahan, Mobile Sports Hall of Fame President Peter Albrecht, South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann and Mobile City Councilwoman Gina Gregory.

"The larger vision is what we've got to capture first before we can move forward," Dow said. "We did it with manufacturing. We can do it in travel and tourism."